He finally lunged at his beast inside his head and wrestled with him. In their physical forms, the dragon would easily win. However, inside their brain, they were the same size.
They rolled, and Kai managed to steer them toward the cage. When Jane cried out, “What the fuck?” he tossed his dragon inside and quickly sealed up the opening.
Fully in control of his human body again, Kai turned to see Maggie holding a talon to Jane’s neck.
He didn’t have time to wonder where the shy girl of his younger years had gone. “Maggie, what are you doing?”
“Humans are weak. She’ll break, Kai. I’m going to save you the heartache later and just end it now.”
With Maggie’s pupils flashing from slits to round and back again, Kai remained where he stood. Kai may be able to control his beast because of his military discipline, but Maggie lacked it.
And as she pressed a little harder against Jane’s neck, a tiny drop of blood cascaded down her skin.
His dragon threw himself against his cage, and again. If Kai didn’t entice Maggie away from Jane, his dragon would break free and Maggie would kill his mate before he could do anything.
As much as the idea of wanting Maggie made him recoil, he needed to trick her. He may not be as good an actor as Jane, but if Maggie had convinced herself killing Jane would bring him into her arms, she’d probably believe anything she wanted to hear.
Kai put out a hand. “Killing anyone, even a human, means we’ll be separated, Maggie, love. Let her go and take my hand. Then we can go wherever you like and be together.”
It took everything Kai had to keep his gaze on Maggie and not share a glance with Jane. He only hoped his clever mate would understand what he was doing.
“Then kiss me to prove it, Kai. If I believe you truly want me, then I’ll release the human and flee with you. Trick me, and she dies.”
He nodded. To protect Jane’s life, Kai would pretend he wanted Maggie.
Ignoring his dragon’s bellow at kissing anyone but their mate, Kai slowly closed the distance between them. From the corner of his eyes, he saw Jane’s face. She had a frown and tightly pressed lips, but it was an act—she lacked the usual fire in her eyes that denoted her anger.
Still, as he approached Maggie, the thought of kissing the woman who broke his heart all those years ago made him want to bolt in the opposite direction so he could run to her leader and report her. He wouldn’t ruin his or Jane’s life by hitting her. No, she deserved to go to prison and know she put herself there.
But he needed Jane safe and sound first.
He stopped a few inches in front of Maggie and tried his best to smile. He lightly caressed her cheek. “Hello, Maggie.”
“Kiss me, Kai. With my mate gone, nothing stands in the way.”
Except for Jane, but he kept that thought to himself.
He moved in closer. “Nothing at all.”
“Prove it. Show me how much you want me.”
He mentally asked for Jane’s forgiveness as he closed the distance and touched his lips to Maggie’s.
The feel of her skin against him did nothing but make him want to step away and wipe away her taste. She tasted like rotten fish compared to the sweet honey of his beautiful Jane.
Still, he needed to convince Maggie, so he probed her lips with his tongue and entered her mouth. When she lightly caressed his tongue with hers, he wanted to gag.
Think of Jane. Getting her away from Maggie was all that mattered and was worth any price.
Despite it going against every honorable instinct he had to be faithful to his mate, Kai wrapped an arm around Maggie’s waist. He continued kissing her for a few more s
econds before pulling away. He did his best to keep his tone husky as he asked, “How was that?”
“A good start. But I need to be sure.”
Before he could do more than blink, Maggie moved her talon to Jane’s shoulder and stabbed her.
He barely noted Jane’s scream as he grabbed Maggie’s wrist and slowly pulled out the talon. The second it was free, Jane slumped to the floor. Kai quickly flipped Maggie onto her stomach and kept her hands restrained behind her back.